Sheridan's moment for beaten Chabal

ENGLAND hero Andrew Sheridan is thrilled to be heading for a World Cup Final showdown with South Africa. But, while the Sale warhorse was on a high after the finest moment of his career on Saturday, he still took time to console a distraught Sebastien Chabal.

ENGLAND hero Andrew Sheridan is thrilled to be heading for a World Cup Final showdown with South Africa.

But, while the Sale warhorse was on a high after the finest moment of his career on Saturday, he still took time to console a distraught Sebastien Chabal.

The player they call The Caveman, whose ferocious tackling has made him the idol of France, was utterly bereft in the aftermath of England's stunning 14-9 World Cup semi-final triumph in Paris.

Chabal slumped to the turf in tears at the final whistle, his broken spirit encapsulating the smashed dreams of the host nation. But in the midst of celebrating his finest hour, Chabal's Sharks club colleague Sheridan offered the giant Frenchman generous consolation.

"Sebastian's a really great guy, but you could see at the end that he was devastated at losing such an important game," said Sheridan.

"I just had a consoling word with him and my other Sale colleague Sebastien Bruno, and just wished them all the best. Unfortunately in sport, someone's got to lose."

Chabal was brutally honest, admitting: "The adventure has ended. We fixed an objective but we were not successful and there's no going back. All the determination, all the sweat just comes to a halt.

"We have a lot of regrets but you have to turn the page otherwise it will haunt you. It's our club rugby which is going to take over our lives now."

Sheridan admitted he was already excited at the prospect of playing in the final on Saturday.

"It's obviously the undoubted highlight of my career," he said. "I missed out through injury when Sale Sharks won the Guinness Premiership in 2006 but this is just an awesome feeling.

"And now that we're in the final, we'll be looking to go all out and put in a really strong performance."

The powerful prop forward followed up a man-of-the-match display against Australia in last week's quarter-final with another bravura performance at the Stade de France.

"I don't know if there was a huge difference between the performances," he added. "I think last week was a lot tougher than what the Australians had been given credit for.''

South Africa beat Argentina 37-13 last night to join England in the final. Chabal, meanwile, will face a disciplinary hearing today after being cited for a dangerous tackle on Simon Shaw.